Show A Little Mercy
by Thunderbird1992
Summary: Mercy looks like a lady but she's far from it, she's a tough, ass-kicking potty mouth, who knows how to put the Dixon brothers in their place. Slow burn Daryl/OC or possible OC/OC haven't decided yet. Will rate this M for future chapters. I'm Dyslexic so I apologize for grammar/spelling etc, fancy being my beta?
1. intro

Introduction

Traffic. As far as the eyes could see. Traffic that's wasn't moving and didn't seem like it would move again in my opinion. This had really turned out to be the worst holiday I had ever been on. I didn't have a car; I didn't even know how to drive so having a car would have been pointless anyway. The army had directed everyone to this road, one of the main roads leaving the city. I looked down at myself, I looked completely out of place here. I wasn't dressed like everyone else. I seemed to be the only one that had put an effort in despite what was going on. It wasn't that I was trying to look my best it was more of a habit than anything else. My mother had been a pin-up girl in the 80s, I had grown up watching her apply makeup and had grown fond of her vintage dress style, so much in fact that it was now how I liked to dress. So that was why right now I was wearing a black and white polka dot swing dress with black pumps and a white bow tied in my dark hair to keep it from my face. I wasn't one for wearing foundation, but I liked to wear my eyeliner and mascara, and my lips were always red or pink. Tonight, they were red I walked through cars dragging my little spotty suitcase behind me, because frankly there wasn't anything else to do. People were still eyeballing me though; jeez it was like they hadn't seen a woman in a dress before. I was also noticing that people were starting to getting restless, a lot of woman where crying and the men were getting argumentative with each other, which was never good.

'well baby brother' a voice drawled from my right 'would you look at that fine peace of ass' the voice added. Sighing I stopped walking and turned to face the voice. I was fed up with the snide comments about how I dressed or looked and the outbreak hadn't improved my mood. The man responsible for the remark was sitting, chilling on a Harley looking bike, smoking something that defiantly didn't smell like a cigarette.

'I get it' I told him 'I'm guessing you ain't seen many people dressed like this lately' I replied seriously. He looked to be in his early fifties, and by the looks of him he was trouble. The man standing beside him who he had called brother looked ten years younger at least, that was quiet and age gap. He looked to be trouble as well but maybe not as much as the older sibling.

'hell girl' the man replied 'I ain't seen anyone dressed like you in person, just on posters' he smirked, I rolled my eyes at him 'so where you from sugar tits?' he asked with a smile drawing another puff of what every he was smoking. He had a foul mouth on him, but I had heard worse, so I decided to play nice.

'Scotland' I replied simply.

'well, your far from home ain't ya, what you doing all the way out here?' he asked me.

'I was on holiday when everything went to shit' I admitted. He laughed at my choice of words and whistled.

'well hell, never expected you to swear. Thought ladies didn't curse' he smirked; I rolled my eyes again.

'never said I was a lady' I told him 'plus I'm Scottish, we swear' I admitted.

'I like this woman' he said to his younger brother who still hadn't said a word. 'I'm Merle Dixon and this is my baby brother Daryl, what about you honey?" he asked me. I wasn't sure if I should tell him or not, but my mother had brought me up with manners, so I told him anyway.

'my names Mercy McAdams' I told him honestly.

'I like it, its usual, suits ya' he replied. My head shot up as a gun shot went off close to wear we were standing, as a group of guys started fighting only a few feet away. It happened so fast I didn't have time to move as one of the men pushed another guy towards me knocking into me making me step back which caused me to fall over my case. I fell on my bum and looked up just in time to see Merle and Daryl pushing the men further away from us.

'hay watch where your falling jackass' Daryl said angrily as Merle punched the man back towards the others. Had they just came to my rescue? Wow guess they were nice, well ok at least. I quickly pulled myself to my feel and brushed down my dress and turned to pick up my suitcase.

'ya all right darlin' Merle asked as they headed back towards me. I gave him a soft smile.

'of course, I am' I told him 'just wasn't expecting it' I added. We all looked up as helicopters flew towards the city, what was going on now? I watched to shocked to speak as they dropped bombs into the street, I could hear people screaming some sounded like they were coming from the city's whilst others were coming from woman on the highway. Surely the army would only do this if they had no other option? I could hear Merle swearing under his breath. Things had just gone from bad to worse. The infected where clearly winning. 'what happens now?' I asked the two brothers.

'we get out of here, we survive' Merle replied seriously.


	2. Chapter 1

chapter one

I rolled awake as a few kids ran past the tent laughing. God was it morning all ready? How long had we been up at the quarry now? A month maybe, hadn't seen any of those geeks in weeks which was always a bonus. I sat up stretching, looking left and right and quickly noticing two empty beds, of course the Dixons would be up all ready, they didn't lie in. They were probably both of hunting. When I had first arrived with the Dixons the other members of our now group had been surprised, but that surprise was nothing when I ended up sharing a tent with them. I had been worried at first, admittedly the first night I hadn't slept at all worried that Merle would try something but when he never I eventually got comfortable sharing their tent. They had promised not to touch me, and they had kept that promise, though Merle still liked to call me crude names whenever he could. I pulled myself up and unzipped my case, rummaging though it to decide what I would be wearing today. I settled for a high waist, denim blue jeans and an emerald green crop top. I let my hair stay down for a change, but I still tied a blue ribbon around my head, I loved ribbons. I quickly did my eye makeup and carefully coloured my lips pink. Slipping my black pumps on because my heals no matter how small they were useless on this tertian I existed the tent to find out what was on the agenda for today.

'morning Mercy' Dale shouted down from the top of his RV. I waved at him, shielding the sun from my eyes with my other hand.

'do you know if anyone needs help with anything?' I asked him. Truthfully, I think everyone was a little scared of me because I had arrived with the Dixons and because I was still hanging with the Dixons so I didn't get asked to do a lot. I could understand why; they were still trouble. Especially Merle. Daryl was quieter but I had gotten to know him a little, it was hard though. He wasn't a talker like Merle, in fact he would only talk to me if I asked him a direct question. I had a feeling he was living in his brothers shadow a little.

"Not unless you want to get your hands dirty" Dale replied. "those squirrels Daryl brought back last night still need skinned and gutted, there over by the fire' he told me. I nodded my head.

'no problem' I replied walking towards the fire. Merle had taught me how to skin and gut squirrels on our second night at camp. I was sure the reason he did it was to see if he'd get a squeamish reaction out of me, but I wasn't a wuss. Guts and blood didn't bother me. I had been a support worker for years; I had seen a woman have a nosebleed that had squirted out her nose and all up the walls like something out of the chainsaw mascara and I had to clean it up. I had seen a lot of dead people two, I'd even dressed dead bodies, death didn't bother me. the dead that were walking about did though, that wasn't normal.

It didn't take me long to make my way through the squirrels, I was on my last one when the brothers turned up looking fresher than normal. They'd obviously had a wash in the water.

'hay, I was just gonna do that' Merle commented. I shrugged my shoulder and through the now ready squirrel to the bucket.

'well, it's done now' I replied standing up. 'So, Glenn's running into town for supplies tomorrow' I told them randomly 'I think I'm going to go with him, use need anything?' I asked.

'Hell no' Daryl said suddenly pointing one of his arrows at me 'you ain't going nowhere with the china man, it ain't safe' he added. I looked at him shocked, I think that was the longest sentence he's ever spoken to me. I didn't even bother to correct him that Glenn was Korean, Merle laughed.

'what you gonna do baby brother, put a leash on her' Merle smirked 'ya can look after yourself right girly' he told me.

'course I can' I replied confidently, truthfully I wasn't sure. Glenn had asked me along for an extra pair of hands and I had agreed to go but so far I had been lucky that I hadn't had to kill any of those dead things. Glenn needed someone fast though and I was. I only had a baseball bat as protection. Didn't have a gun wouldn't know how to shoot one if I did, you couldn't buy a gun in Scotland. 'besides Glenn's taking a group with him, there wasn't many volunteers' I told them honestly.

'tell ya what' Merle said 'how about I go with the group then you can keep that pretty ass of yours from getting bit by geeks' he told me 'that way you'll be safe and Darlena over here won't be worrying' he added.

'I ain't worried' Daryl grumbled back not meeting our eyes.

'thought I told you to stop calling him that Merle' I replied glaring at him.

'yeah what you gonna do if I don't' he smirked back.

'I'll smack that smirk right of your face' I told him sternly 'you know I will' I added pointing a finger at him. First week in camp I had punched Carols husband Ed in the face for calling me a hooker. He hit me back giving me a split lip in the process, but his black eye was more visible than my lip, so in my head, I won. Merle held his hands up in mock surrender, I watched as Daryl grabbed his crossbow and all his arrows. 'you going out again?' I asked him, he had only went out last night.

'yeah, I'll be gone a couple of days' he replied not meeting my eyes.

'you'll be careful right?' I replied. he nodded his head at me, and I watched him walk back into the trees. 'so, are you going on the run or am I?' I asked Merle.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Next morning Merle had gone with the small group to Atlanta much to the displeasure of everyone going. Maybe I should of went, there was some stuff I was wanting anyway, I was running low of red lipstick and it wasn't something I could ask the group to get me and even if I had asked Merle I knew there was no way in hell he would be touching stuff like that. I knew Merle wasn't a team player, I'm sure Daryl could be if you were nice enough to him. everyone thought they were the same, but I spend a lot of time with them and I my eyes they were completely different people. With both Merle and Daryl gone I found myself helping the woman with the washing. I had stuck on some short denim shorts and a simple navy vest top; my hair was tied back with a red and white polka dot ribbon. With both brothers gone which had never happened before I rummaged through their clothes and stuck the dirtiest ones in the wash basket before heading down to the water. Carol had left her scrubbing board at the water's edge for anyone to use along with some soap so I got to work, scrubbing the stains and smell out of there trousers and tops, I wasn't touching their underwear they could do that on their own, I wasn't even sure if they owned any come to think of it, I hadn't seen any when rummaging through their bags, I wasn't surprising they went commando.

An hour or so later I walked back up the hill with the wet washing and went over to the shared washing line to hang the clothes, Carol and Lori were already there, taking some dry ones down.

'are those the Dixon's' Lori asked with a nod at the trousers I was just hanging up.

'yup' I replied.

'do they know you've washed their stuff?' Lori asked nervously meeting eyes with Carol.

'nope'

'wont they be mad?' Carol asked timidly. I shrugged my shoulders. I could see where she was coming from, but they weren't Ed, I doubted either of them had ever hit a woman the way Ed hit her.

'too late if they are' I told her 'they'll just have to suck it up and deal with it' I told the two older women seriously as I continued to hang the rest of the stuff up.

'you're not scared of them are you?' Lori replied 'I mean I know you arrived with them but honestly didn't expect you to stay with them as long as you have' she admitted. Wow, what was this, members of the group didn't speak to me very often. Glenn would but I think that was due to us being the same age. But here they were making conversation with me, I couldn't help but think the reason for that was that both brothers weren't here.

'no, Daryl's know bother at all and Merle…well he can be a bit rude and angry at times, but I just get angry back and he backs down' I told the pair of them 'they helped me on the freeway' I admitted.

'what happened?' carol asked.

'group of guys started fighting, I ended up getting knocked to the floor, Merle and Daryl pushed the men further away so I could get back up. Merle said if I stuck with them they'd keep me safe' I added 'they've been true to their word so far'

'I think it's nice that your comfortable round them' Carol commented with a small timid smile before picking up her family's clothes and walking away back towards their tent. I shared a knowing glance at Lori, everyone knew what was going on between her and Ed, we'd all seen the way he spoke to her, we'd also seen the fresh bruises.

xxx

It was about midday when I found myself rather bored. I ended up sitting with Amy near the RV talking about makeup and girl stuff, it was sort of nice talking about girls things, you couldn't do that with the guys.

'I think I'm due my periods soon' I told her randomly 'actually I'm late' I said knowingly. She grabbed my lower arm and gasped loudly.

'oh my god, are your pregnant?' she asked me quickly.

'what god, no' I rushed out quickly. 'it's prob just the stress of everything that's happened with the world going to shit, it been hard to keep track but I'm defo over a week late' I added.

'don't worry, I've got tampons in the RV so if you start you can use mine until we find some more' she smiled at me.

'Thanks Amy that would be great' I replied, our heads both turned to the CB as someone tried to get through we watched as Dale quickly climbed his ladders and started talking, trying to get a hold of the group. It was hard to make out, but it sounded like they were trapped, we moved closer to try listen better.

'did he say they were trapped?' Shane asked rubbing a hand over his head. if they were trapped what where we going to do?

'he said the department store' Lori commented.

'yeah I heard it to' Dale replied in conformation.

'so, what's the plan?' I asked Shane.

'we don't go after them, we all agreed on that, we don't risk the rest of the group' Shane told us all.

'so, we're just going to leave her there' Amy said angrily 'she's my sister you son of a bitch' she snapped, wow, never knew she had it in her. Go Amy.

'she knew the risks right, they said there trapped, there gone' Shane told her calmly, harsh but true I guess. Oh, Jesus what was I going to tell Daryl when he got back from his hunt? I thought as I watched Amy storm off. Lori ran after her, always trying to help, must be the mother in her. I went back over to sit down at the Dixons little camp, there was nothing else I could do now but wait till Daryl came back. Soon as he found out though I had a feeling he would want to go and try to save his brother.

xxx

I stood up as I heard a car alarm in the distance, it sounded like it was getting closer. Everyone else was up now as well. Dale was looking through his binoculars to try and see what was causing the noise. We soon got our answer however as a rather cheerful Glenn drove into camp. Soon as he hoped out the car everyone jumped on him.

'holy crap turn that dame thing off' Dale shouted at him.

'I don't know how' Glenn shouted back.

'can you pop the dame hood' Shane told him

'Andrea is she okay'

'POP THE DAME HOOD' Shane shouted angrily.

'okay, okay, okay' Glenn replied jumping back into the car to pop the hood. Soon as he did Jim shut the alarm off

'is she okay, did she get out of the city, is she okay' Amy kept pushing desperately.

'yeah she's fine, there all fine' Glenn told her which seemed to calm her down a bit. 'well everyone apart from Merle' he added. What? Merle was the toughest member of the group what the hell had happened to him? had he been hurt, bit? I was about to ask when Shane snapped at Glenn.

'you crazy diving this thing up here, you trying to draw every geek for miles?' he said angrily.

'sorry' Glenn replied 'I got a cool car' he added though, I rolled my eyes, boys, and their toys. I watched from the side lines as a cube van pulled up and everyone got out, one of the group mentioned a new guy. It shocked everyone when Carl shouted dad and then both Lori and Carl where running towards the man. Guess some good things still happened after all.

xxx

That evening I sat around the main fire as the Dixons wasn't lit, and I wasn't joining the one Ed had set up for himself. I listed as Rick told his Story to his family and the rest of the group who had joined around the fire. I had sat quiet trying not to snap at the people responsible for Merle being left behind. Andrea had told me what had happened though, I knew Merle was dangerous and Rick had been right to handcuff him for everyone's safety, but he had been left there handcuffed with no hope of escape, the geeks had probably ripped him to peace's. I shivered at the thought, Dale glanced at me before speaking.

'have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon' Dale asked Rick 'He won't be happy that his brother got left behind'

'I dropped the key it's on me' T-dog replied.

'I cuffed him, so it's on me' Rick replied.

'guys it's not a competition' Glenn told them both 'and honestly the news might come better from Mercy' Glenn added looking at me, everyone's eyes shot to me. oh shit. I knew Glenn was right, Daryl was less likely to try and kill me, but he could be just as hostile as Merle when time called for it, and after all I had only met him a month ago, he'd known Merle his whole life.

'yeah, he'd listen to you' Amy replied looking at me.

'No, Daryl had a temper to match his brothers' Shane replied looking at me 'I know there okay with you, but I don't like the idea of you getting hurt' Shane added. I shook my head.

'He wouldn't hurt me' I told them softly.

'are you his partner?' Rick asked which caused Shane to scoff in amusement.

'no, I just arrived at camp with them we've become friends sort of' I replied 'it's my fault I was supposed to go with use not Merle, none of this would have happened if I had just went. If Daryl blames me for this there no way in hell he's going to listen to me' I explained.

'she's right, I don't see a rational conversation happening however we put it' Dale added 'word to the wise, we're going to have our handful when he gets back from this hunt, and yeah maybe Mercy could help us calm him down a bit, but she should stay out of his reach' I wasn't happy that they were all assuming Daryl would hurt me in his anger, I didn't think he was like that at all, was I the only person who saw it though? Seemed that way.

'I stopped long enough to chain that door' T-dog said suddenly. 'Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that, not that chain, not that padlock. Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof' T-dog told the group 'That's on us' oh my god! 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter three

I couldn't sleep that night. My thoughts were with Merle stuck on the roof, thinking he had been left behind to die. It wouldn't take long to die of thirst not with the heat in this country. I had to go get him, preferable before Daryl got back and found out he had been left. I couldn't go alone though; I didn't know the area. If I asked Glenn nicely he might take me but if Shane found out I doubt he would be happy. Eventually I passed out.

xxx

Next morning, I dressed in my shorts and vest again, using my ribbon I tied my hair up into a bun so stop it getting in my way. If I was going to be running away from geeks then my shorts would allow me to do that, they were less likely to get caught in anything the same way a dress would. I didn't exactly own good running shoes though; I knew I needed trainers. Maybe I would find some in the city, until them my pumps would have to do. I hadn't long got out my tent however when I heard some of the kids screaming. I wasn't the only one to run in the direction of the screams, Shane and Rick were taking the lead and Dale and Jim weren't far behind them. I got there just in time to see them beating a walker who had been munching on a deer, a deer with arrows that looked like Daryl's sticking out of it. that meant he wasn't far behind.

'they never come this far up the mountain' Dale commented after taking its head clean off.

'well there running out of food in the city, that's what' Jim replied. we all looked to the trees as we heard rustling, Shane pointed his gun to the trees as Daryl stepped out of a bush, he took one look at the deer on the ground and his face changed.

'son of a bitch' he growled angrily 'that was my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!' he shouted swigging his boot into the walkers side repeatedly in anger.

'calm down son, that's not helping' Dale said always trying to be the voice of reason in the group. He was a nice older man, he really did care about everyone, even the Dixons. 

'what do you know about it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond" I've been tracking this deer for miles' he added looking back down at the deer 'was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison' he said looking round at us all. 'what you think Mercy? Think we can cut up around this chewed up part right here?' he asked me. I shook my head as Shane responded.

'I wouldn't risk that' I don't think anyone of us would, we weren't that hungry. Yet.

'that's a damn shame' Daryl replied 'I got some squirrel about a dozen or so. That'll have to do' he added seriously. Teeth snapping made me look down and I pulled my leg away quickly as the geeks mouth opened and closed close to where I was standing. Daryl quickly shot it through the head. 'what the hell? It's gotta be the brain' Daryl told everyone as he retrieved his arrow and started heading to camp shouting on Merle, god this wasn't going to go well. Shane quickly followed him.

'Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you'

'about what?' Daryl said stopping to face him.

'about Merle' Shane admitted. 'there was a problem in Atlanta'

'he dead?'

'we're not sure'

'he either is or he ain't!' Daryl replied voice rising again as his eyes narrowed. I watched as Rick stood forwards and introduced himself, then told Daryl what had happened to Merle. It only took a few seconds before Daryl swung for Rick but was tackled by Shane. I watched them fight as Daryl manged to shake Shane off and then grab his hunting knife, okay things were going too far, someone was going to get hurt. He swung the blade towards Rick, but I jumped in the way, he stopped just in time when he saw it was me. his hesitation was enough for Shane to jump on him from behind and make him drop the knife, he grabbed him around the neck though which I wasn't happy about.

'Shane no!' I shouted at him. he just ignored me.

'choke holds illegal' Daryl grumbled trying to get out of it.

'file a complaint' Shane replied simply.

'I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that? Yeah. What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others' Rick told him as Shane realised him.

'it's not Ricks fault' T-dog admitted stepping forwards. 'I had the key, I dropped it'

'couldn't pick it up?'

'I dropped it down a drain' T-dog replied. Daryl scoffed as he slowly rose to his feet. He was angry, we could all see that, but he was also upset. I think the conversation was going surprisingly well since Daryl had a knife on him.

'that supposed to make me feel better it don't' Daryl snapped at T-Dog.

'well, maybe this will' T-dog replied 'I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him with a padlock'

'that's got to count for something' Rick added calmly. Daryl glared at the pair of them, quickly wiping his eyes.

'hell, with all yawl, just tell me where he is so I can go get him' Daryl replied. that's when Lori spoke up.

'he'll show you'

xxx

So, it seemed like Rick was going back, apparently he had dropped a bag with a lot of guns in it and was going to grab it at the same time as he went back to the city with Daryl to go rescue merle. Rick had already asked Glenn if he would come, he reluctantly agreed. I was surprised t-dog had volunteered to go as well; I don't think Daryl was to impressed about it.

'I'll come with you' I said walking up behind Rick. He turned to face me.

'I don't think that will be a good idea' he started.

'listen, I'm fast on my feet and I'm not stupid either. And trust me when you cut Merle loose he's going to be pissed off, you might need me as a human shield, Merle and Daryl together are a handful trust me' I replied. 'they both have tempers, but they've never touched me, and I honestly don't think they ever will, you might need me' I told him.

'alright, if you sure' he replied 'it's going to be dangerous'

'I know but I'll be alright' I said giving him a soft smile. Plus, I needed a few things, maybe I could crab some stuff in the department store on our way back from rescuing Merle. As I climbed into the back of the cube van with Daryl he gave me a disapproving look but kept his mouth shut. I knew how he felt about me going into the city, I had wanted to go a few times in the past few weeks and him and Merle had always shot me down, Daryl more quickly than Merle. He cared; I knew he did. Even if no one else did, even if he didn't see it himself. Daryl was becoming impatient, so I didn't take us long to get on the road. I couldn't see anything from the back of the van, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

'he better be okay, that's my only word on the matter' Daryl spoke eventually glaring at T-dog.

'I told you the geeks can't get at him. the only ones getting through that door are us' he replied confidently. Glenn pulled up and cut the engine, announcing that we would be walking from there. Daryl jumped up and opened the back door and we all climbed out. We were on some railway tracks and surprisingly the place was quiet not a geek in sight. I knew that wasn't going to last long though. We slipped through a fence and continued onto the main streets. We made it into the department store without much of a problem. As we walked through the broken doors Rick held up his hand and signalled to a geek who was just mulling around in front of the desk. Daryl moved; crossbow ready.

'dame, you are one ugly skank' he commented shooting her in the forehead, she fell to the floor with a soft thump. I had a quick glance around the store, there was still quite a lot of women's clothes hanging up but nothing really in my style. In my head part of me knew that eventually I would just have to wear whatever I could find, I didn't have the luxury off shopping around now, though on the plus side, everything that was available was free. I didn't have time to have a look around right now though as we quickly made our way up the stairs, T-dog cut the chain to the door and Daryl quickly kicked it open, shouting on his brother. I quickly followed after them as we ran across the roof. What I saw laying on the roof made me want to hurl.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter four

If Daryl had been pissed and upset back at camp it was nothing compared to how he was feeling right now, he looked ready to kill. Merle had cut his own hand off to get away, what an idiot. I was impressed and slightly annoyed at the same time. If he was free where the hell was he? Had he bled to death somewhere? I couldn't even imagine the pain of cutting of your own hand with a saw. With a yell, Daryl quickly aimed his cross bow at T-dog, Rick was quick to react placing his gun at Daryl's temple. Shit, things where getting out of hand.

'I won't hesitate' Rick told him 'I don't care if every walker in the city hears it' he told him. Rick seemed to prefer calling the geeks walkers, guess it made sense.

'Daryl' I said softly placing my hand on top of his crossbow and pushing it down gently. He let me push it down then dropped it to his side. I moved myself in front of him, so I was now standing between Rick and Daryl, Rick lowered his gun.

'you got a rag or something' Daryl asked T-dog, his voice surprisingly calm. T-dog handed him a rag and I watched as he walked over to his brothers hand. 'I guess the saw blade was to dull for the handcuff' he told us picking up his brothers hand and wrapping it in the rag then much to Glenn's discomfort he slid it into his Glenn's backpack, I wasn't even going to ask why. 'he must have used a tourniquet, maybe his belt. There would be a lot more blood if he hadn't' he said following the blood trail along the roof. We could do nothing but follow him as the trail led back into the building. 'Merle you in here' Daryl shouted down the stairs making me cringe. Just tell every walker in the building where we are, I thought. Our walk lead to into an office area, there was a female geek in the way, but Daryl quickly dealt with her, pulling out his arrow from her head to use again. we found to dead ones not far away, killed my merle by the looks of it. 'had enough in him to take out these two sons of bitches, one handed. Toughest asshole I ever met my brother, feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails' he told us. Yeah I was already getting that sort of feeling about Merle after living with him for a while.

'any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is' Rick commented taking the lead. I rolled my eyes, way to give Daryl confidence, I thought. We followed the blood trail into a kitchen. Daryl shouted on his brother again.

'shhhhh' I told him the same time Rick spoke up

'we're not alone here remember' Rick told him.

'screw that, he could be bleeding out you said so yourself' Daryl replied. we found Merles belt sitting on a lit stove, there was blood and brown, dried stuff everywhere. I was glad I had a strong stomach.

'do I even want to know what that dry stuff is?' I asked the group.

'it's skin' Rick told me 'he cauterized the stump' I looked to Glenn who looked like he was about to be sick, I rubbed his back softly.

'I told you he was tough, no one can kill Merle but Merle' Daryl told Rick.

xxx

It wasn't long before another argument started. Merle had left the building, Daryl wanted to go after him. truthfully, I didn't want Daryl to go at all. If Merle was out there then maybe he was already heading back to camp, in which case it was probably good that Rick and T-dog where standing here. I had a feeling Merle would be out for blood. It was agreed by the group that we would all go out looking for Merle proving we grab the bag of guns first. We just needed a plan on getting them. Glenn had drew a map of the street on the office floor with a pen, explaining to us his plan.

'Okay, here's the tank, here's the bag of guns and this is the alley I dragged you into when we first men' Glenn told Rick 'That's where me, Mercy and Daryl will go' he told us.

'why us' Daryl asked.

'your crossbow and Mercy's bat is quieter than guns' Glenn replied. we couldn't argue with that. I watched as Glenn told Rick and T-dog where they would be. Then within a few minutes we were back outside in our designated allies.

'you've got some balls for a china man' Daryl commented.

'I'm Korean'

'whatever' Daryl replied as we watched Glenn disappeared onto the street. Daryl pulled me down behind a dumpster to stay out of view.

'do you think Glenn will be okay' I whispered. Daryl shrugged.

'well find out' he whispered back.

'but what if…' Daryl quickly held up his finger and I slapped my mouth shut. We could hear footsteps coming down the alley towards us and they weren't dragging they were normal. Someone else was here. Daryl jumped up, crossbow aiming at the intruder. It was a young man probably not much longer than me or Glenn. As Daryl questioned him he started shouting, bloody idiot.

'shut up' I told him 'Daryl, give him some room' I added seeing things about to escalate quickly again but the young man wouldn't stop shouting so Daryl knocked him to the floor in an attempt to keep him quiet. Suddenly I heard hurried footsteps behind me. I turned just in time to see two men charging towards us. They pushed me down to the floor as the beat Daryl, I quickly pulled myself to my feet, grabbing a hold of my bat just as Glenn made an appearance. He quickly past me the back of guns and ran to try and help Daryl out. I stood there in shock, what the hell was I meant to do now holding a heavy ass bag of guns.

'that's the bag, take it' one of the men shouted looking at me. fuck. I only had one option now. I turned to run into the street full of geeks, rather taking my chances with them than these two large men who had just attacked my friends. I hadn't gotten far when I felt one of the men colliding into my back though, I stumbled, dropping the guns in the process. I heard one of the men scream and out the side of my eye seen an arrow sticking out one of the men butts, Daryl was up and shooting at them. I felt one man grab me round the neck as he pulled me up to my feet and used me as a human shield against Daryl, the bag of guns where lying a few feet away.

'get the fuck of me' I screamed at the man scratching his arms as he held them around my throat. I heard a car pull up and the realisation sank in, they were taking me with them. 'Daryl' I screamed not caring at this point about the geeks. These men had shown they were violent I didn't want to go with them. I didn't know them. I didn't get a choice though as I was roughly shoved into the back of the car and the drove off. I could hear Daryl shouting in the distance. I continued to struggle against them. I was clearly pissing them off, but I didn't care, maybe if I annoyed them they'd throw me out the car. That didn't happen though, they man handled me until they got a gag tied around my mouth and a belt aloud my lower legs and hands. The car stopped eventually, and I was hauled out. I saw a lot of men and it made me nervous. I didn't like the idea of being tied up, surrounded by men. I knew what some men could be like given the chance and there were no laws or cops to make them think twice now. They shoved me down on chair though and placed a sack over my head, blocking my view. I could feel myself begin to shake, despite my best effort trying to make myself calm. Calm down, the guys are probably out looking for me I told myself I don't think they'd leave me in the hands of strangers, Rick certainly isn't like that and Daryl, well he'll come and rescue me just so he can start swearing and shouting at me about coming with them in the first place. He had been right I should have stayed at camp.

xxx

I wasn't sure how long I had been sitting on the chair when I was suddenly pulled off it and dragged up some stairs. I felt the breeze hit my chest and arms and realised I was outside again. I heard a man shout from down below somewhere, what the hell was going on? the bag was suddenly pulled from my head and I was pushed forward slightly. I jumped and squeaked as I thought I was being pushed off a roof until I felt myself being pulled back. I looked down to the ground, I could see Glenn, Rick and Daryl looking back up at me. they had come for me, I felt myself fill with relief since the first time since I had been dragged into the car. They quickly dragged me back inside, I could see where I was going now and as they lead me further into the building I was becoming more confused. Who the hell where all these old people? What the hell? Was this a nursing home? they sat me down in one of the rooms and tied me to the chair, telling me to be quiet and not move.

xxx

'your girls in there' I heard a voice a voice say after some time had passed. Rick quickly walked through the door and over to me removing my gag and untying me from the chair, Daryl not far behind him.

'you good?' Daryl asked. I nodded my head.

'what the hell happened?' I questioned.

'we're leaving now, everything's sorted it was just a big misunderstanding' Rick told me. I glared at the man standing in the doorway, it hadn't felt like a misunderstanding, but I kept my mouth shut, I was just glad to be leaving with my friends.

'where's my bat' I grumbled angrily.

'here' Glenn said taking it from where he had it strapped to his bag.

'thanks' I replied as he handed it to me and we left, heading home. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter five

I staid quiet on our way back through the city. I didn't want to admit out loud that the whole experience had shook me up slightly. It was the first time I had ever been kidnapped even if it was only a misunderstanding. It wasn't normal, fuck none of this was normal it was all crazy. How where we meant to survive like this now. Sure, this group off men had turned out to be all right but what about in the future as things became more desperate, I'd seen movies, things always became more desperate. What then? I really didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I had always seen myself as a strong individual who didn't take crap from no one but today with those men I had been scared and it was eating away at me. the guys were walking a head of me talking amongst themselves every now and again Rick or Daryl would look behind to make sure I was still tagging along. It wasn't till they all stopped that I pulled myself out of my thoughts.

'oh my god' I heard Glenn say I looked over his shoulder as Daryl spoke.

'where the hell's our van'

'we left it right there, who would take it' Glenn added.

'Merle' Rick replied. oh shit.

'he's going to be taking some vengeance back to camp' Daryl admitted. Yeah he was, well all knew it. with no car we only had one option, run the five mile back to camp. We all set off at a steady jog, not wanting to rush to fast or we'd burn out in this heat. God I hatred this heat, I wasn't used to it. we could only hope that Shane, Dale, and the others would be able to keep Merle in check until we all arrived.

'Mercy, how you doing?' Rick asked from beside me.

'fine' I replied.

'it's okay not to be' Rick told me 'what you went through today would have shook most people up, some even break down'

'I won't break down' I told him

'I know' he replied 'but it's okay not to feel okay, you didn't know what was going to happen, none of us did' I was well aware everyone could hear our conversation, but I didn't really care.

'I'm not a baby, I just let my thoughts run away with themselves today, but I'm fine. Can we drop it please' I asked him.

'alright' he commented. As we jogged along the road it was getting dark, the sun had gone down as we were approaching camp, we must have only been half a mile away when we heard the screams and the gun shots.

'oh my god' Rick said as we all picked up the pace. We made it in camp as Shane and a few others where surrounded around the RV, with the guns it didn't take the guys long to kill all the geeks. The bit was a mess though, bodies lay everywhere and not just geeks, most the camp members where gone, some I had never even spoke to but still. There was less of us now. I found myself standing close to Daryl, not really sure what I should be doing. Someone was bound to have a plan, but it wasn't me.

'come on' Daryl told me nodding towards the tent.

'but…'

'there aint nothing we can do till morning' he told me 'best get some sleep you'll need it'

'what about you?'

'I'll be in later, gonna stay on watch for a while' I shook my head. how could anyone sleep after what had just happened, what if more came through the night. Daryl must have had an idea about what I was thinking. 'aint nothing going to happen to you Mercy, I'll make sure' he told me.

xxx

I wasn't sure how, but I manged to get a couple of hours sleep knowing Daryl was just outside the tent keeping watch. I woke up through the night when it was still dark though, I hadn't even changed out of my clothes and in all honestly I wasn't in the mood to, it was a little chilly, but nothing compared to the temperatures I was used to in Scotland. I sat with Daryl all night till morning. He obviously wasn't intreated in sleep either. As soon as morning came he got up, took the pickaxe, and started piercing all the heads with it, geeks and what was left of the campers. Daryl was in a bad mood again, I wasn't sure if it was because the group had been attacked, Merle hadn't come back here, he hadn't slept or a mixture off all three. Knowing I needed to help out somehow I helped Glenn and T-dog move the geeks bodies into the fire that had been lit. I was short but with two of us, one at each end I was strong enough to help move them. Andrea hadn't left her sisters body all night, it was just a matter of time before Amy came back as one of them but no one seemed to know what to do.

'you can't be serious, that dead gurls a time bomb' Daryl hissed 'we got people we need to protect'

'what do you suggest we do?' Rick asked.

'Take the shot, clean in the brain from here' Daryl told him 'hell, I could hit a turkey between the eyes at this distance' he added. I didn't doubt him, out of everyone here I was convinced he was the best shot. Lori shot him down though, which just pissed him off more.

'come on Mercy' he snapped at me. I followed him knowing his anger wasn't directed at me despite the look on Shanes face. 'stay away from that gurl' he told me seriously. 'come on jimbo wake up we got work to do' he added as we walked past Jim. I watched as they began to drag more bodies towards the fire. It was weird, Daryl had spoken more to me in the last twenty-four hours that he had since I had joined up with him and his brother. I couldn't help but think it was because Merle wasn't here. I was always convinced that he had been stuck behind his brothers shadow. But without his brother here maybe he was feeling lonely and was talking to me because I was the only other person he could talk to. He had known me longer than anyone else here and Merle had always said he would watch my back, Daryl hadn't but I knew he would. I looked down at my top, it was covered in blood and geek from carrying the bodies, there wasn't that many left to burn so I headed back to the tent for some fresh clothes and then headed down to the quarry for a wash. I made sure I brought my bat with me.

xxx

Once I was washed and in a nice clean dress I headed back up to the camp. Luckily, I hadn't ran into any geeks whilst I had been on my own. whilst I had been away things had obviously been going on. I asked Glenn and he quickly filled me in. Jim was bit, Andrea had killed Amy though I had thought someone had as I had heard the single shot from the water. I joined everyone on the hill as we had a sort of funeral for those that had died and then rick, Shane and Daryl buried them. I don't think anyone knew what was happening now. Everyone that thought our little camp had been a nice safe place we could maybe live at, it wasn't home, but it was ours.

We all sat around the fire and rick and Shane disgust the plan to head to the CDC to see if we could help Jim and maybe find a safe place to stay. It looked like we would be leaving first thing in the morning.

xxx

That morning we all got ready to leave, seemed like not everyone would be leaving with us though. I jumped in Daryl's truck beside him. Merles bike was on the back, I knew why he was bringing it, it was the only thing he had the reminded him of Merle. We were at the back as we followed the rest of the cars along the road, it was going to be a long drive. We hadn't spoken a word to each other yet.

'Daryl' he hummed letting me know he was listening. I wanted to ask him about merle, why he hadn't come back to the camp but changed my mind. 'do you think the CDC is up and running?' I asked instead.

'Rick seems to think so' was his reply.

'I don't understand how I'm still alive' I admitted going off topic a bit. He gave me a quick glance before his eyes went back on the road.

'what you mean?' he questioned chewing on his nail.

'I don't know my way around this country, if we hadn't met on the highway I would probably be lost and dead right now, I still haven't killed a geek. I don't even know if I could' I told him honestly. I don't know how but I had made it this far without killing one, I knew that wasn't going to last but I knew I wasn't alone, Lori and carol hadn't killed any either.

'you'll be fine, you aint like the other woman you aint no wimp. When time comes you'll do it without thinking' he told me. I hoped he was right.

Eventually we had to stop, the radiator hose on the RV broke, just like Dale always said it would if we tried going too far. There was a gas station up ahead though so Shane and T-dog went to have a look to see if they could bring something back to fix the RV, Jim had taken a turn for the worst, so Rick was inside with him. I stood looking around, keeping an eye out for geeks. The countryside was beautiful, even at the end of the world. It was so green looking. I walked back over as Rick got out the RV, he explained that Jim wanted to be left at the side of the road.

'and he's lucid?' carol asked.

'he seems to be, I would say yes' Rick replied

'so, we just leave him here and take off, I'm not sure I can live with that' Shane admitted.

xxx

Five minutes later everyone was saying goodbye as he sat up against a tree, accepting he was dying and was okay with that. even Daryl gave him a nod and I gave him a small smile. Most the woman cried as everyone got back into their vehicles, we didn't look back.


End file.
